Another BEST driver involved in accident, arrested

In what seems to be yet another incident of rash driving by a BEST driver, police have arrested a bus driver for allegedly hitting an autorickshaw on Thursday.

The autorickshaw driver sustained minor injuries in the incident, which occurred at around 2.20pm near Bandra Talao. He was admitted to Bandra’s K B Bhabha Hospital.

The bus driver, Supan Ramchandra Kadam (50), was booked under section 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way) and section 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC.

This is not the first instance of BEST drivers ramming into other vehicles. Earlier this year, a bus rammed into an autorickshaw in the Kalina area of Santacruz (E) instantly killing the 45-year-old autorickshaw driver and injuring his three passengers. In another incident, a BEST bus rammed into a pair of motorcyclists at Aarey colony killing one person and injuring three more.

Talking about the rising number of accidents involving BEST buses, auto union leader Sharad Rao said the BEST drivers weren’t to blame for the accidents. He felt a major contributing factor was the rising number of vehicles on Mumbai’s roads.

The number of vehicles on Mumbai roads on a daily basis is around 20 lakhs. In the last couple of months there have been four major accidents and 135 other minor ones, which staggering 177 people were injured.